Repeal 50-A

CPR's Intervention Motion in NYPD Misconduct Database Case

Posted on July 29, 2020

On July 28, 2020, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliff LLP, filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by five New York City police unions, as well as corrections and firefighter unions. The lawsuit seeks to block NYC from publishing officer misconduct and discipline information and roll back the repeal of Civil Rights Law § 50-a.
For immediate release: September 17, 2020

Court Allows “Very Temporary” Stay of Publication of NYPD Misconduct Records

In response to today’s ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeal panel of judges that temporarily blocks New York City’s publication of NYPD officer disciplinary records, Communities United for Police Reform, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP issued the following
For immediate release: August 25, 2020

Court Rules Communities United for Police Reform May Intervene in NYPD Misconduct Database Case

Group That Led #Repeal50a Campaign to Enter Police Unions’ Lawsuit Aimed at Rolling Back 50-a Repeal and Re-Entrenching Police Secrecy

August 25, 2020, New York – Today, a federal court ruled that Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, may intervene in a lawsuit brought by five New York City police unions, as well as corrections and firefighter unions, that seeks to block the City from publishing officer misconduct and discipline information and roll back the historic repeal of N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 50-a. The unions sued the City in July, after the New York State legislature repealed 50-a, a law that had shielded the records from the public, and the de Blasio administration announced plans to release a searchable NYPD misconduct database. Also last Friday, the court denied the unions’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking release of the records during the duration of the litigation.

More than 300,000 NYPD officer complaints over 35 years released in new database

08/20/2020
AM NY

Over 300,000 complaints about New York Police Department officer misconduct have been released due to a new database from the New York Civil Liberties Union published Thursday.

The complaints all come from reports compiled from the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), an independent agency that investigates complaints of police wrongdoing against civilians.

The database contains information about 323,911 complaints dating back to 1985 concerning 81,550 different officers. That’s an average of 923 complaints a year.

For immediate release: August 21, 2020

Communities United for Police Reform Celebrates Denial Of Police Union’s Request for Injunction & Attempt to Rollback 50-a Repeal

New York, NY -- Today, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied police unions’ request for a preliminary injunction to block the City of New York from publishing officer misconduct databases, with limited exceptions.
For immediate release: August 20, 2020

CPR Statement on Release of 300,000+ Complaints about NYPD Officers

New York, NY – Today, the Second Circuit Court lifted the stay that was preventing the New York Civil Liberties Union from publishing its database of NYPD officer misconduct records that it obtained from the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the independent agency that investigates certain complaints about police abuse of civilians. The database is now live here, and it contains information about more than 300,000 misconduct complaints that were investigated by the CCRB dating back to before 1985.

Waiting compass on lawsuit that asks to reestablish Police Secrecy Law 50-A

08/18/2020
El Diario

Tuesday a hearing was held to hear the demand of several unions of fire police and correctional agents of the city of New York that request the repeal of the Police Secrecy Law (50-A) be reversed. The appearance was presided over by the judge of the Federal Court, Katherine Failla.

Meanwhile, civil rights defenders, elected officials, and members of a broad coalition of activists rejected the claim raised in a class-action lawsuit by the unions.

Cops fight against making disciplinary records public

08/20/2020
Amsterdam News

Local authorities continue to fight the public over making disciplinary records public. However, the public’s fighting back.

This week, The Legal Aid Society filed an amicus brief against the efforts of five police unions to block public access to the disciplinary records after Albany repealed Section 50-a which made records and accounts of police misconduct unavailable to civilians. In the brief, members of The Legal Aid Society state that the police’s latest attempt to block Section 50-a is emblematic of the culture cops have created.

For immediate release: August 18, 2020

Communities United for Police Reform Condemns Police Union’s Request for Injunction in Attempt to Reverse 50-a Repeal

New York, NY -- Today, a federal hearing was held regarding the police unions’ request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the City of New York from publishing officer misconduct databases, following the repeal of New York’s police secrecy law, “50-a”. 

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